Things Go Wrong
by somehowunbroken
Summary: Prompts: Lorne/Author's Choice - sometimes missions just go wrong/Combat situations. Rating for mild language and violence.


They're running quickly, shooting almost haphazardly behind them as they do. Everyone is shooting, Evan realizes, even David, who hates to draw his gun and will rarely do so. He's joked before that he's afraid he won't know which way to point it and will get someone killed.

Nobody is joking now. They're all running for their lives, back to the Jumper, and Evan's already closing the door and rising above the forest as they all slide into their seats. The only sound for a long time is harsh breathing, slowly evening out as Evan flies the Jumper and his team away.

"What happened?" Volsky finally asks as they approach the Gate.

"Sometimes shit just blows up on you," Martins says darkly, adjusting the strap of his thigh holster. "It's even more likely to all go south when you're dealing with Amish Space Nazis."

"Those were Genii?" David asks, surprised. "I've never met Genii before."

"Congratulations," Martins bites out. "You're officially initiated."

"Children," Evan warns as he dials the DHD. He doesn't need to say anything else.

The Gate doesn't connect. Evan frowns and dials again; as he touches the last symbol, the Gate splutters and spins, but the wormhole doesn't engage, the blue not-water doesn't fill the ring.

"What happened?" Volsky repeats, but this time it's more panicked, less wondering.

"Dialing the Alpha Site," Evan replies with more calm than he feels. Again, the wormhole doesn't connect. Evan tries three other addresses he recalls off the top of his head with the same results.

"Okay," he says after a few minutes. "They've done something to the Gate. We'll miss our check-in in another three hours, and they'll send someone through for us."

"In the meantime," Martins sums up, "Amish Space Nazis."

"There's that," Evan agrees, bringing up the Jumper's HUD. There are three groups of life signs headed their way from different directions, and Evan plots a course that will thread them between the paths the Genii are following. He engages the cloak just in case.

He settles the Jumper down some distance from the Gate – far enough that a search team will take a while to find them on foot, but close enough that their radios are still in range. Volsky and Martins take up watch at the front of the Jumper as Evan heads to the back, checking their supplies on autopilot. He groans as he looks through what they have.

"Someone forgot to restock," he says, making a mental note to have words with the Jumper maintenance crew. "We're okay for now, but if this turns into any sort of long-term thing, we'll need to forage."

"There are several different species of edible ferns on this planet," David supplies helpfully. "Berries, too."

Evan nods, moving to the front again to bring up the HUD. He points to the screen, where a small stream shows up, about a klick to the west. "Would they grow near water, David?"

"Some right next to it, some relatively close," he affirms. "If we need to, we can collect food and water in one trip." David peers over at him. "Will we need to?"

Evan considers it. "It's a distinct possibility."

David just nods, and Evan takes a moment to be amazed at his partner's composure. Before they'd grown close, David had always seemed flighty, paranoid, easily frightened, but Evan has since discovered that there is a quiet strength just below the surface of the man.

They wait three hours, four; finally, Evan's radio crackles, and he hears Colonel Sheppard's voice. "AR-2, this is Atlantis Base, do you read?"

"Copy, Atlantis Base," Evan says. "This is AR-2. Colonel, we've got a situation."

"Report," Sheppard says, voice clipped. Evan relays the basics and hears Sheppard sigh.

"So if we send someone through to help deal with the Genii-"

"-they'll be stuck here too," Evan finishes. "Pretty much."

"I'll put McKay on it here," Sheppard promises. "You good on supplies for a few days, just in case?"

"We'll gather some local stuff," Evan says. "Yell at the maintenance crew for me. We're a little low."

Sheppard's response is half-growl, half-laughter. "You need us to send stuff through?"

"Don't bother," Evan replies. "We'll let you know if we can't find anything."

"We'll call again in three hours," Sheppard promises. "Atlantis out."

"Okay," Evan says, looking around the Jumper. "David, you and I are going to go collect some water and those berries. Volsky, Martins, you guys sit tight. We're on radio silence unless there's an emergency."

He and David set out not long after, water jugs and bags for the plants in hand. It's a short walk to the stream, and the temperature is nice; at least they have that. David pokes contentedly at the plants along the stream as Evan fills the jugs.

"These are fascinating," he calls happily, and Evan has to smile. Trust David to find a plant absolutely enthralling while stuck offworld with angry Genii. "I've never seen a fern quite this color before."

"Get a sample of it," Evan tells him, but David is already down in the dirt, carefully snipping at the leaves. He brandishes a purple fern at Evan a moment later.

"Lovely," Evan tells him. "Can we eat it?"

"I don't know," David frowns. "Best not to try until I can check it out."

They collect some other plants, Evan clipping where David directs him, until their bags are full. They walk back to the Jumper and bring their findings inside.

The ferns are bitter, but David mashes some of the berries together with water and some salt from the med kit and makes a kind of dressing, so it's bearable. Sheppard checks in precisely three hours later. "Progress?"

"We haven't seen the Genii again," Evan says. "We've got the HUD up. Looks like they're settled in for the night."

"McKay's got some sort of idea," Sheppard says. "He says he's working on it and should have something ready tomorrow afternoon if you haven't managed to get back by then."

"Copy," Evan says, and they prepare to settle in for the night.

Evan jerks awake a few hours later to the sound of gunfire. Volsky's supposed to be on watch and Evan hears him swear as he falls from his seat, apparently having fallen asleep. Evan glances at the HUD.

"Incoming," he reports. "Here, here, and here." He points to three areas on the screen.

Volsky is already at the back of the Jumper, lowering the door. He peers out. "How can they tell where we are?"

"We leave a pretty big footprint," Martins says. "Big open space with a bunch of smashed grass."

They position themselves inside he Jumper anyway, weapons pointed out. Evan pulls David into the front compartment.

"Why don't we just fly away?" David whispers to him, but Evan shakes his head.

"I'm not sure where else we can land," he admits. From what they saw on their initial flyover, the planet is densely forested, with mountains jutting from the landscape in the distance. "We have to stay in radio range of the Gate."

David nods and Evan pushes him into a corner. "Stay up here," he says. "If Sheppard calls back, let him know what's going on." He heads into the back and seals the bulkhead.

The Genii groups emerge as one, advancing towards the space left by the Jumper with careful movements. "Surrender," one of them calls.

"Unlikely," Martins mutters.

Evan reaches out to cuff him – the sound could be enough to give away their position – but the Genii begin to fire, and Evan has to fire back, aiming his P90 out and spraying in a wide arc. He hears a scream beside him and Volsky slumps, dropping his weapon.

"Shit," Evan swears. "Martins, cover us." He drags Volsky back against the Jumper's bench. Volsky is holding his arm, and Evan can see the blood flowing freely from underneath. He slams the bulkhead door. "David!"

The door opens and David's face appears, close to the ground. "Bandage him up," Evan says, gesturing to Volsky. David nods and pulls down the med kit, and Evan turns back to the opening.

The Genii have pulled back, and Evan sees that several are sprawled across the ground. Martins has his Beretta out now and is picking soldiers off as they creep forward, one by one. Evan pulls him back. "We're getting out of here," he says, low, and Martins steps further into the Jumper and shuts the door.

Evan lifts the Jumper into the air and flies away. He circles around the Gate in wide, lazy rotations, updating Sheppard when he calls in. He tries dialing out again, with no luck.

Martins takes over their flights around the planet when Evan begins to crash, the adrenaline suddenly leaving his system. He grabs an hour of sleep in the back of the Jumper where Volsky sits, slumped against the wall. His arm is tightly bandaged. David had done a good job.

Sheppard calls back before noon and sends through a tiny device that, when activated, will let them dial into the Alpha Site. Evan sends his thanks through to McKay and dials out, flying the Jumper through.

Sometimes, Evan evaluates as his beleaguered teammates stumble from the Jumper, missions just go wrong.


End file.
